Smart doorbell jargon buster

As you research the best options for making your front door smart, you’ll come across some of these phrases:

LATENCY

The amount of time between the moment a frame is captured and when that frame is displayed on the receiving screen. Long latency is an issue with most doorbells and means you’ll have to wait a few seconds to see your visitor and also for them to hear you.

LIVE VIEW

Watching a live stream of video footage. All video doorbells offer this so you can check in on your doorstep, even if you didn’t get a motion alert.

TWO-WAY AUDIO

The ability to hear audio from video footage and transmit audio to the same stream. It requires your doorbell to have both speaker and microphone.

CLOUD STORAGE

An online space where recorded video is stored, so it can be accessed from anywhere you have an internet connection.

ASPECT RATIO

The dimension of the video footage you will see through your doorbell’s camera. A wider aspect ratio such as 16:9 will show you more side-to-side but may cut off faces and feet. A squarer ratio such as 4:3 or 1:1 offers a more head-to-toe view.